Warbird Information Exchange

The "Inspector" would always encourage me to continue to post so I shall indeed continue to post more boring and annoying stuff to continue to bore and annoy you all in Bill's memory.
Shame he's not here to add his usual "color commentary"


USS Tripoli (CVE-64)
Named for the port city of Tripoli successfully invaded by the US in 1805, USS Tripoli was commissioned on Oct. 31, 1943. After an accidental fire and subsequent repairs, the ship was sent to the Atlantic Fleet. She began patrolling near the Cape Verde Islands to disrupt German submarine operations. The ship had encounters with U-boats for the next few months. In June 1944, the ship was used for carrier qualification training. At the beginning of August, the ship was sent to Brazil to operate against German marine targets in the southern Atlantic. They participated in several hunt and kill missions to find and destroy U-boats. At the end of 1945, Tripoli reported to the Pacific for transport and training operations. She made a ferrying trip to Roi, in the Marshall Islands, with fighters and bombers aboard. Her training operations continued off of the Hawaiian Islands until the fall of 1945. She was then sent to help transport US troops home in operation “Magic Carpet”. Her Fate: She was decommissioned in May 1946. But, she reentered service in January 1952 due to the Korean War. She conducted dozens of transport voyages over the next few years. She was formally decommissioned for the second time in 1959. Source Wiki

Ordered: 17 Jul 1942
Laid down: 1 Feb 1943
Launched: 13 Jul 1943
Commissioned: 31 Oct 1943
End service: 22 Nov 1958
Decommissioned: 22 May 1946.
Reactivated as an aircraft transport on 5 January 1952 and operated with civilian crew under MSTS control as T-CVE 64.
Placed out of service: 22 November 1958.
Stricken: 1 February 1959.
Sold and scrapped in Japan in January 1960.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tripoli_(CVE-64)


All six Taffy 3 carriers (Midway/St. Lo, White Plains, Kalinin Bay, Fanshaw Bay, Kitkun Bay and Gambier Bay) in various
stages of construction in the shipyard at Vancouver, Washington (across the river from Portland, OR). The ships in the
picture, from left to right are: Gambier Bay (CVE 73), Natoma Bay (CVE 62), Midway/St. Lo (CVE 63), Tripoli (CVE 64),
Wake Island (CVE 65), White Plains (CVE 66), Solomons (CVE67), Kalinin Bay (CVE 68), Kasaan Bay (CVE 69),
Fanshaw Bay (CVE70), Kitkun Bay (CVE 71), Tulagi (CVE 72).

Part 1

"Composite Squadron 13 went aboard the USS Tripoli in March 1944 just before the ship put to sea from Norfolk. The squadron was equipped with 9 FM-2s and 11 TBF-1Cs. They patrolled west of the Cape Verde Islands, refueling in Brazil at the beginning of April. On the 19th (two days after these photo's were probably taken), one of the Avenger's made an unsuccessful rocket and depth charge attack on U-543."

"German submarine U-543 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down at the Deutsche Werft (yard) in Hamburg as 'werk' 364 on 3 July 1942, launched on 3 February and commissioned on 21 April with Kapitänleutnant Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel in command. U-543 began her service career with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla from 21 April 1943. She was re-assigned to the 10th flotilla for operations on 1 November. She carried out two patrols, but did not sink any ships. She was a member of three wolfpacks. She was sunk in July 1944 southwest of Tenerife by an American aircraft. The boat departed Kiel on 9 November 1943, moved through the North Sea, negotiated the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and into the Atlantic Ocean. She entered Lorient, on the French Atlantic coast, on 24 January 1944. Her second foray took her west of Portugal where she found a small convoy on 9 April 1944, but she was driven off by depth charges from the escorts. After refuelling from U-488, the boat was attacked on 19 April by a TBM Avenger with rockets and a FIDO homing torpedo. The aircraft had come from the USS Tripoli. The submarine escaped undamaged and sailed to the west coast of Africa, then across the central Atlantic to the waters off Brazil. She was sunk on 2 July 1944 on the return leg west of Portugal by an Avenger, this time from USS Wake Island. The same mix of rockets and a FIDO were used, but were successful. Fifty-eight men died; there were no survivors." Source Wiki

"On 29 April, Tripoli returned to Norfolk; VC-13 moved to other duties, but apparently did not sail on that ship again".
Source of text and photos, Duggy Axis & Allied paintworks






Notice in this photo what looks to be an SB2C canopy contraption up on the ships lookout area.

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Part 2

And how did some personel and cargo get out to escort carriers you ask? Well you didn't ask but I'll tell ya's anyway.

"Another innovation pioneered by recycled Avengers was the "carrier on board delivery (COD)" mission. It was nothing unusual for Avengers and other aircraft to fly small cargoes from shore onto carriers, but the Navy had never had an aircraft dedicated to the mission. During the Korean War, a number of TBM-3s and TBM-3Ws were converted to the "TBM-3R" configuration, with all combat gear removed, the rear of the canopy glassed-in or faired over, and seats for seven passengers installed in the rear compartment." Duggy Axis & Allied paintworks.

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45+47=Psalm 92:6

Cool stuff Mark.

Please continue to bore the living warbird out of us.

That TBM-3R Avenger would be a great idea for a ride hopping warbird!

Andy

Even with the equipment removed, the radio room of an Avenger is not a particularly spacious spot. I can't see it being particularly comfortable to ride back there. Now, the seats in place of where the turret would have been would likely be a much nicer place to ride. The turret itself is remarkably comfortable to sit in considering, well, it's a gun turret.

Very interesting material as always.Thanks for posting,Mark.It's really rare to see interior shots of a TBM-3R.I do have one comment concerning the picture of the entrance door to the radioman's compartment.I may be wrong,but this orientation looks right to me.All of the pictures that I've seen of these doors with windows installed had the window in the top half of the door.The picture of the TBF-1 or TBM-1 on the hangar deck viewed through the elevator in your series has a door like that:

The picture in question is upside down. The hinges and the handle are also on the opposite side of where they are supposed to be.

The picture of the 12 carriers under construction is fascinating. It's just awe inspiring to realize that this was but one section of one shipyard in the United States, and so many other shipyards were turning out combat vessels in unprecedented quantity, and ships were only part of the picture...you had planes, tanks, trucks, ammunition and all the materials necessary for waging war on a global scale. The sheer scale of the industrial effort is mind boggling.

Thanks for pointing out the upside down photo. Makes much more sense now correctly shown.

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45+47=Psalm 92:6

Great shots of the COD Turkey. Especially like the side by side seats in the ex-turret position.

Any photos of the seats in the rear radio compartment?

The canopy on the island is equally interesting- an early pri-fly for the air boss!

And those graving docks are still with us. The former Kaiser shipyard in Vancouver, WA, is now an industrial park, with an interpretive park and viewing tower off to the east of the shipyard that has signage and photos describing the carriers and cargo ships (Victory Ships, if I recall correctly) during the war. Well worth a visit if you get out this way!

-Tom

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=Co ... &encType=1

The former Kaiser shipyard in Vancouver, WA is about 14 miles from my house. Didn't know about the viewing area, will have to check it out, didn't look at it as I was too busy turning base to final for Pearson in the SNJ. 60 CVEs were built there.

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Love the first round of shots. It looks like the Wildcats and Avengers are wearing East Coast gray over white paint schemes? Am I correct? I also love the shot of the Avenger running on the hangar deck....imagine what THAT sounded like!


Chappie

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Brrring. Dispersal? TWO SECTIONS SCRAMBLE!!